The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Thomas Hammock

Followed Rod Carey. Thomas Hammock slid Northern Illinois from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 7 seasons.

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2019–now · 1 stint

Northern Illinois

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In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Northern Illinois, 7 seasons (active)

−9.0

Regional Program II → Regional Program III.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

Northern Illinois17.1pt#26 of 258 · more than most

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

4–8 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Mike Neu.

Rivalry record

4–8

33.3% · 2 rivals

One-score games

17–23

42.5% · margin ≤8

Buyout owed

$1,947,405 (est.)

bigger than 16% of FBS buyouts

Rivalry ledger

Ball State2–433%

Toledo2–433%

The toughest matchupNemesis

vs. Mike Neu1–4

5 meetings, 2019–2023

’19 L · blew a 14-pt lead’20 L · blew a 7-pt lead’21 W · erased a 10-pt deficit’22 L · blew a 21-pt lead’23 L · blew a 7-pt lead

Performance by opponent class

Power Program

1–3 25.0%

National Program

4–8 33.3%

Regional Program

24–31 43.6%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact

+0.04

#130 of 319 · a typical amount

Defense marginal impact

+0.04

#126 of 325 · a typical amount

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2019–now

Northern Illinoiscaretaker🏆 coach of the year

Regional Program I → Regional Program II

Thomas Hammock slid Northern Illinois from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 7 seasons.

6th-best Northern Illinois tenure of 13 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent

+5.5 pts

#86 of 208 · a typical amount

Defense vs. talent

+0.9 pts

#95 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Rod Carey (2012–2018).

Season	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Record & result
Record	5–7	0–6	9–5	3–9	7–6	8–5	3–9
Postseason	—	—	L bowl	—	W bowl	W bowl	—
Recruiting rank	#108	#91	#90	#87	#102	#99	#84
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	44.9	50.0	35.4	40.7	43.9	39.9	32.9
Coordinators
OC	Eric Eidsness	Eric Eidsness	Eric Eidsness	Eric Eidsness	Eric Eidsness	Wesley Beschorner	Quinn Sanders
DC	Derrick Jackson	Derrick Jackson	Derrick Jackson	Nick Benedetto / Derrick Jackson	Nick Benedetto / Derrick Jackson	Nick Benedetto	Rob Harley
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	19	20	87	45	70	38	16
Defense	47	35	10	15	58	88	18
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	39.6	46.9	27.6	26.4	36.1	34.4	23.2
Red-zone pass%	36.1	60.6	30.7	35.2	37.5	37.2	28.1
4th-down go%opp. territory	28.9	40.0	39.6	29.4	32.6	40.6	41.9

Roster construction · portal era

Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.

Portal arrivals

2.9★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-61

#176 of 187 FBS stints

Who they bring in

Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.

A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.

Avg. size (raw)

6′1″, 215 lbs

across 18 of 19 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+4.0 lbs

#122 of 255 · a typical amount

Avg. class year

#72 of 255 · a typical amount

Top states: IL (4), IA (3), TN (2), FL (1), OH (1)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

43.7

position-weighted

Talent lost

55.1

position-weighted

Net

-11.3

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Justin Lynch (QB) from Temple

Biggest loss: Ethan Hampton (QB) to Illinois

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

OC: Eric Eidsness → Wesley Beschorner · 2024

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

1st-down pass rate: 36.1% → 34.4% (-1.7 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 60% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

OC: Wesley Beschorner → Quinn Sanders · 2025

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

1st-down pass rate: 34.4% → 23.2% (-11.2 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 53% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

DC: Derrick Jackson → co-Nick Benedetto / Derrick Jackson · 2022the system held

2-season window either side.

DC: co-Nick Benedetto / Derrick Jackson → Nick Benedetto · 2024

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

DC: Nick Benedetto → Rob Harley · 2025

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

Roster size, by position

Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)

Quarterback

215 lbs

6′3″ avg · #310 of 767 · a typical amount

Running back

212 lbs

5′11″ avg · #197 of 791 · more than most

Wide receiver

194 lbs

6′0″ avg · #350 of 791 · a typical amount

Tight end

243 lbs

6′4″ avg · #438 of 731 · a typical amount

Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters

Interior line

310 lbs

6′5″ avg · #363 of 779 · a typical amount

D-line

292 lbs

6′3″ avg · #208 of 753 · a typical amount

Edge

250 lbs

6′4″ avg · #115 of 188 · a typical amount

Linebacker

221 lbs

6′1″ avg · #684 of 772 · less than most

Cornerback

186 lbs

6′0″ avg · #598 of 771 · less than most

Safety

198 lbs

6′1″ avg · #157 of 346 · a typical amount

Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Tight end from high school

92%

#164 of 188 stints

Grows Edge from high school

100%

#191 of 208 stints

Postseason detail2021: Lost to Coastal Carolina 41–47 Tailgreeter Cure Bowl2023: Beat Arkansas State 21–19 Camellia Bowl2024: Beat Fresno State 28–20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

2 NFL Draft picks: Max Scharping (2019), Sutton Smith (2019)

Coach of the Year: MAC Coach of the Year (2021)

AI Narratives — “Northern Illinois — stat check”.

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